


Their First Christmas

by agentsoffitzsimmons



Series: WinterHawk Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-06 20:59:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5430626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentsoffitzsimmons/pseuds/agentsoffitzsimmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of the 12 Days of WinterHawk! </p><p>Bucky and Clint have never really had a proper Christmas. Now that they have been together for almost a year, they want to change that and have a proper Christmas together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1: Tree

Clint and Bucky never had a traditional Christmas. Bucky was either in cryo or on a mission… Even in the 40’s, his family didn’t celebrate Christmas like everyone else. They would go to church and exchange a couple gifts but it was so different from Christmas today. 

Clint was either in the circus, where they didn’t celebrate it, or he was on the run, celebrating it in a bar in New York City. Before he was an Avenger he was actually a criminal so it was difficult to celebrate a holiday when you were wanted…

This was the first year that they were both in better places and could actually celebrate this holiday like they wanted… But neither knew how to. Both had never had a proper Christmas that they could replicate. Both had always skipped Christmas. This year, the whole team was pushing them to actually do something. They had been together since the beginning of the year so everyone wanted them to enjoy this together.

Bucky had talked to Steve about it and had received a list from the whole team, apparently, about what to do. Some were date ideas, presumably from Natasha, some were Christmas traditions, and some were things that Clint and Bucky should do. The list was something that Bucky now treasured.

The first thing on the list was to decorate their apartment. Clint was actually very excited about this so he had gone and cleaned the apartment while Bucky slept.

“Clint, what did you do?” The brunet muttered groggily as he walked into their living room. The archer poked his head out of the kitchen, a shit eating grin on his lips. “I cleaned, what does it look like I did?” James scowled. “You never cleaned… What is up?” He asked a little hesitantly as he made his way towards the blond.

Clint turned towards the stove and flipped what looked like a pancake over. James frowned and poked his lover’s back. “What are you doing?” The archer chuckled and turned around to plant a kiss on his lips. “We are decorating today and I wanted everything to be clean! We can’t have a dirty apartment while we are decorating!” Bucky only let out a chuckle before pulling his boyfriend into another kiss. “You are an idiot.”

After a very nice breakfast, they went out and bought as many lights and decorations as they could possibly carry. Clint had complained when their basket had gotten full. He had wanted to get the snowman dog! Bucky just rolled his eyes and kept walking. Eventually, the archer caught up with him.

When they got back, Clint immediately started to pull things out of bags and place them around the apartment. The mistletoe went above their bedroom door, there was tinsel around their couch, and there was a snow globe on their mantle. They hung up rainbow lights around the entire apartment, in the kitchen, their room, the living room, and even the bathroom. It was festive all around!

Once they were done, Bucky ended up crashing on the couch. He fell onto his back and immediately groaned. Okay, he sat on some left over lights. That hurt. He removed them from underneath him and set them on the ground next to him. Bucky stayed like that for a few minutes before he felt someone sitting next to him. Without even opening his eyes, he reached out and grabbed a hand with his real hand. Clint relaxed into the couch and threaded their fingers together, letting out a happy sigh.

“Buck? Are you gonna kill me if I say something is missing?” The soldier finally looked up at his lover, a frown on his lips. “Missing? Clint, we basically bought everything at that damn store… And we are not going back for that damn dog.” The archer chuckled, shaking his head. “No, no, it’s not that! I just feel like there is supposed to be something else here…” Bucky groaned and sat up, making sure to keep his hand in Clint’s. He looked around and surprisingly, Clint was right. “Yeah, something is missing… But what?” 

“Go get your list. See if there is something on there.” Clint glanced around the apartment again, trying to figure out what was missing. He had seen so many pictures of pretty decorations and how your home was supposed to look but this just wasn’t complete. They had the tinsel, the lights, the mistletoes, and even stockings! Bucky got up and grabbed the list from the coffee table. “Let’s see… Decorations.” He started listing off the different things that the team had included.

“Mistletoe, with a winky face next to it. Stockings. Lights. A tree. Mistletoe. Cand-” Clint sat straight up. “That’s it! We are missing a tree, Buck.” James looked up and sure enough, there was no tree in sight. Had they really forgotten the most important part? They had even gotten ornaments for the thing! Bucky only laughed and rubbed his face. Of course they had forgotten the tree.

The archer stood up and started pulling on Bucky’s arm. “Come on! We gotta go get a tree, Buck.” Bucky had never seen Clint this energetic on their days off. It was obvious this was important to him so who was Bucky to say no? The soldier stood up with a sigh and started walking towards the door. “Come on, let’s go get a tree.” And back to the store they went.

Or at least, Bucky thought that was where they were going.

Instead, Clint hailed them a taxi and told the driver exactly where to go and it wasn’t the store Bucky thought they were going to. Confused, Bucky looked over at Clint. “Where are we going?” The archer only smirked and planted a kiss to the other’s lips. “To get a tree, idiot.” Bucky couldn’t help the smile that spread across his lips. Okay, so they were both idiots… “But we aren’t going to the store.” Clint shook his head. “’Course not. That’s not where you go to buy a tree. Stark told me of a really great place earlier when we were over.” 

Bucky just sat back and enjoyed the ride, watching out his window as the city went rolling by. Soon enough, the buildings started to disappear. Fields were appearing and spreading across the horizon. How long had they been driving? Bucky turned back to face Clint who had a big grin on his face. He looked so silly and Bucky loved it.

It only took them a few more minutes before they reached their destination. It was a greenhouse type place. There were quite a few trees lined up beside it, hanging from the structure. It looked pretty cool, if Bucky had to be honest. He saw Clint get out of the car and quickly followed. As soon as he opened the door and stepped out he was greeted with the scent of pine and he fell in love. Bucky shut the door and walked over to the hanging trees.

Clint was already looking around, trying to pick which one would be best in their apartment. Bucky walked up to the first one he saw, his real hand immediately reaching out to grab the small branches. It kinda hurt to touch it but he found he quite enjoyed it. It was comforting in some odd way. He looked the tree up and down. It was full, tall, and pretty wide… It would be perfect in their place.

“This one.” Bucky spoke up. Clint peeked around another tree to glance at the one Bucky had picked out. The archer walked up to the tree, the smile returning to his lips. “Bucky, it is perfect.” He chuckled and pulled at the tag so he could bring it up to the register. Bucky stayed by the tree, almost guarding it from other people. This was their tree and no one could take it away from them now. 

It didn’t take long before Clint returned with the ticket in his hand. “It’s ours! Let’s take it home, Buck.” For the first time that day, Bucky actually felt like crying. He had no idea why. He shouldn’t want to cry over a damn tree, but here he was. He grabbed the tree and started dragging it towards the taxi. The driver seemed pretty excited as well. Maybe this was the first time he had taken an actual tree back to New York. 

Needless to say, it took them awhile to actually get the tree secured onto the taxi but once it was on, it was on for the whole drive home. The driver actually started talking to them on their way back. Turns out, he had never had a tree on the top of his car and he was pretty damn excited about it. No one gets real trees in New York anymore as they are too expensive and just die at the end of the holiday. Bucky and Clint didn’t care… They had their tree.

Once they got back to the apartment, the driver helped them take it up the stairs and even stayed to help set it up. They cut off a few of the bottom branches and trimmed a little off the trunk so it would sit easily. All three of them put it in the stand together and made sure that it would stay upright. After about 10 minutes, they were all pretty sure it was going to stay in place. The driver left after receiving a generous tip, most of which he left by the door as setting up the tree was a good enough tip, and Bucky and Clint were left alone.

Bucky sat back down on the couch and let out a sigh. Clint was still standing by the tree but when he heard Bucky sit, he snapped his head over to face him. “Nu-uh. Get your ass up, we gotta decorate it now.” Bucky only groaned and closed his eyes. This wasn’t fair. He had been up since who knows when and had done nothing but decorate today. 

“Please?”

Bucky opened his eyes but didn’t dare turn them towards Clint. The archer sounded so broken, it actually hurt Bucky to hear him begging like that. “Please, Bucky?” He asked again. The soldier bit his bottom lip before letting out a sigh. “Okay, okay. We can decorate the tree.” He looked up just in time to see Clint’s expression change from completely heartbroken to excited. Bucky never wanted to see that look on his face again.

They spent about an hour putting lights and ornaments on their tree. The whole apartment smelled of pine now and Bucky loved it. Once they were done, they both ended up crashing on the couch. They admired their work. “I love it.” Clint finally said after a moment of silence. It had a bunch of decorations on it but it was obviously their tree. Clint had managed to sneak a couple pizza ornaments into the tree and even one of a bow and arrow. Where he had found that, Bucky had no idea. There were a couple ornaments that Bucky had picked out, like the Captain America shield from back in the day, a couple older things, and finally a sniper rifle ornament. Again, he had no idea but it was there. 

“It is perfect Clint.” He said as he wrapped an arm around his lover. Clint immediately snuggled up to him, burying his face in the other’s neck. Bucky smiled, placing a kiss on the top of his head. “Can we do this every year?” Clint mumbled. It was obvious he was tired. “Of course we can.”

They stayed like that for about an hour before Bucky finally moved slightly. Clint had managed to fall asleep on Bucky so he picked him up and took him to the bedroom. He stopped for a moment to press a kiss to his forehead. Mistletoe, he couldn’t ignore it. James placed Clint on the bed before crawling in next to him. He pressed another kiss to his forehead before curling up with his arms around his lover’s waist.

“Merry Christmas. I love you, Clint.”


	2. Day 2: Snowman

It didn’t take much longer before New York was covered in snow. A couple days after Clint and Bucky had gotten their tree, the city had been covered in a white blanket of snow overnight. That day it was the archer who woke up first, surprisingly. Normally Bucky would but it was if Clint knew something was up.

The blond slowly opened his eyes, shoving at Bucky a little. The soldier had Clint in a grasp that was difficult to get out of. Not that he really wanted to get out of his hold, he had just noticed that it was a bit brighter outside than normal. Eventually Clint squirmed his way out of Bucky’s arms and made his way to the window.

“Bucky!” He yelled, his eyes wide as he stared out the window. The brunet woke up with a start, his hand immediately reaching for the gun he had on the bedside table. Security reasons, this was New York after all. “What?!” He asked when he noticed his boyfriend. 

Clint had that weird smile on his lips again which worried Bucky slightly. “What is it now?” The morning before, Clint had woken Bucky up because he was too excited for Christmas that he couldn’t sleep. Now there was something outside their apartment? “Go back to sleep Clint.” He mumbled as he laid back down.

“Nooo, you need to come see this!” Clint said excitedly. He turned to face the bed and reached out to grab at Bucky’s arm. He started pulling him out of the bed towards the window. Bucky let out a growl as he was pulled from his blankets. “Clint.” He warned.

“I’m serious, Buck. You gotta see this.” The archer placed a kiss on his cheek before going back to the window. The soldier let out a sigh before getting up off the bed and walking over to join his boyfriend at the window. The floor was cold on his bare feet.

“Snow? You woke me up for snow?” Clint smiled and nodded excitedly. James laughed and rested his forehead on the other’s shoulder. “You really are an idiot. I know for a fact that you always saw snow when you were in the circus and I always saw snow as I was in Russia most of the time. Why are you so excited about it now?” 

The archer looked out the window, leaning in close so he could see as much as possible. “This is different. Now we don’t have to work. We don’t have to kill people or steal things. We can do whatever we want in this snow.” He said, his smile falling slightly as he remembered what he did the last time he saw snow. Needless to say, he wasn’t in the Avengers yet.

“Let me grab the list and see what the team says snow is good for. You get dressed. You are going to freeze.” Bucky stated as he pulled away from Clint. The archer was only in his boxers as their heat had been way up the night before. Now, apparently, it seemed like they had no heat. The brunet went in search of the list and also went to turn up the heat because, damn, it was really cold.

When he returned to their bedroom, Clint had thrown on his purple sweatpants, some socks, and one of Bucky’s hoodies. That brought a smile to James’s lips. It was always so nice seeing Clint in his clothes. It made him feel loved.

“Alright, what does it say, Buck?” Clint asked as he scooted closer to where Bucky had sat. “Well there is a whole section called ‘When it snows’, so I think that is a good place to start.” He joked. “Make snow angels, catch it on your tongue, and make snowmen.” He listed off. Clint rested his chin against Bucky’s shoulder, debating on what they should do first.

“How about we make it a challenge? We try to make snowmen that look like each other. That would be fun.” Bucky laughed and nodded. “Yeah, we could do that. Good luck getting my arm right.” Clint stuck out his tongue. He had an idea.

“We can go out into the snow in a little while. It is only 6 am and I want to go back to sleep.” Bucky said as he climbed back into bed. Clint nodded and followed suit, curling up in Bucky’s arms. “Good idea. Maybe we can get the other’s to join us.” The archer mumbled. 

They didn’t know what they had gotten into when they made their way over to the Tower and proposed their challenge. Everyone was into it so they made it between all of them rather than just Clint and Bucky. Whoever could make the best snowman that resembled a team mate won and got to choose dinner for that night.

Couldn’t make the stakes too high as this was the Avengers.

After they had all suited up, they made their way to the roof. There ended up being a lot more snow there and they also would be away from the hustle and bustle of the city. They each picked a different team member and got to work.

Clint had Bucky, Bucky had Steve, Steve had Clint, Tony had Natasha, Natasha had Sam, Sam had Bruce, and Bruce had Tony. 

It took everyone about an hour before they all deemed their work completed. 

Clint’s snowman was voted the funniest. It was a normal shape, 3 snowballs, a carrot nose, and button eyes. It had one of Bucky’s scarves on it and a small star had been carved in the side of the ice. The best part was the arms. Clint had gotten a stick from who knows where and had run inside to grab a fork to represent his metal arm. Even Bucky had laughed.

Bucky’s snowman was a typical snowman but he had set Steve’s shield next to it. The soldier had a very difficult time trying to figure out what Steve’s prominent features were. He was perfect just like this snowman. He had managed to find some bigger sticks to be his arms because Steve had big arms. Bucky must have gone with Clint to find them.

Tony’s looked nothing like Natasha. Tony just said he had forgotten who he had halfway through and just made a snowman that looked like himself. It had the arc reactor and all.

Natasha’s was pretty accurate and no one asked where she had gotten the feathers to be Sam’s wings. 

Sam’s was adorable and his snowman was a close second. It looked like the Hulk and he had made a much smaller snowman that looked like Bruce. He had managed to find some glasses that he had set on the Bruce snowman. They all applauded his creativity.

Bruce’s was third as it also looked pretty accurate. It had the arc reactor, the goatee, and an Iron Man scarf. It looked much better than Tony’s did.

Steve won. Steve blew every one out of the water. He had actually taken the time to sculpt out the snow to make it look like Clint almost perfectly. Steve had grabbed his bow and arrows and put them on the snowman. Everyone swore he cheated but Steve Rogers never cheats.

Needless to say, Steve picked dinner that night and they all enjoyed some nice all American burgers and fries. 

No one complained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This verse is going to be the death of me.
> 
> I have so much planned and oh my gosh it is going to be the longest thing if I can keep up with it.
> 
> Keep leaving kudos and comments as it really helps me keep writing!


	3. Day 3: Snowball Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set during a break of the great "Build-A-Snowman" challenge. Bucky and Clint have some alone time on the roof but they are both children so a snowball fight ensues.
> 
> Bucky swears it was on accident.

As they were building their snowmen, the team had taken a minor break. No one really knew how difficult it was to get a snowman perfect. It was a lot of work!

Everyone had gone inside to get some hot chocolate but Bucky and Clint had stayed outside on the roof with the snowmen. At first, they wanted to mess with everyone else and move something on their snowmen but both decided that would be cheating. They didn’t want to risk losing the challenge because the cheated.

Clint sat on the edge of the room, his legs dangling off the edge. He knew full well what he was doing. Tony had programmed a suit to come and grab him if he fell. Stark had learned firsthand how easy it was for Clint to fall off of a building and he didn’t want to risk it. 

Bucky was worried though. “Clint, you really shouldn’t sit that close to the edge.” The archer only shrugged. He had the best view right now and wouldn’t complain. “If I fall, the suit catches me.” Bucky sighed and walked up next to him. “But what if it doesn’t?” That made Clint look up. “It will. Don’t doubt Stark.” He said with a small smile on his lips.

Against his better judgment, Bucky climbed onto the edge and sat down next to Clint. Okay, this was a pretty amazing view. He still didn’t feel safe though.

“This is nice.” Clint spoke up after awhile. “This is the first Christmas that I really feel like part of a family. Even if it is the most dysfunctional family anyone has ever seen.” He teased. Bucky nodded along. This was his first proper Christmas. He had had a few Christmases with his own family. Were they normal Christmases? Of course not.

“And I have you.” The archer says quietly.

The made Bucky look over at Clint quickly. “And I’m special?” Clint scowled. “Of course you are, idiot. I-“ He stopped speaking for a moment, debating on whether or not he should complete that sentence. “You are really important to me.” There we go.

Clint had heard him when Bucky said he loved him earlier. Clint was slowly coming to the conclusion that he loved Bucky too but it was so damn hard to say it. He always lost anyone he loved. He really didn’t want to admit that to Bucky just yet. He had to make sure…

“You are really important to me too, Clint.” Bucky said with a smile. He leaned over and kissed his lover. He pulled back immediately though. “Your lips are freezing, Clint! What the hell?” The archer merely shrugged. 

“Okay, we are going inside now to warm up. No complaints.” Clint groaned and leaned back. “Come on, I’m fine! I don’t want to go inside…” Bucky only shook his head and twisted around so that he could get off the edge of the roof. “Alright, but don’t expect me to warm you up when you come running to me.” Clint stayed where he was, watching the sun slowly dipping into the horizon.

Okay, so it was obvious he wasn’t budging. Bucky let out a low growl as he looked back over at Clint. He didn’t want to drag him off the roof because then they both could fall over. He didn’t want to leave Clint up here alone though.

The soldier looked down at the ground, a smirk slowly spreading across his lips. 

Snow.

That was perfect! He could start throwing snow at Clint and the archer was sure to come in! Bucky bent down and started to collect some. Even better, he formed them into small balls. Better aim that way.

James stood up straight and threw a snowball at Clint. He hadn’t expected Clint to turn around and start to ask him why he hadn’t left yet. Instead of hitting the back of his head, the snowball landed right in the middle of his face.

“Clint!” Bucky yelled as he watched Clint slowly make his way off the roof edge. He seemed pissed. Oh god, what had Bucky done? 

Clint bent down, acting like the snowball had really hurt. He was wiping at his face with one hand while the other started to make a snowball. Bucky couldn’t see the other hand so when he reached Clint, the face full of snow he received came as a complete shock.

Bucky staggered back, trying his best to wipe the freezing snow off his face. He couldn’t see anything and he could only hear Clint laughing like an idiot. And he had been worried about him!

“That’s what you get asshole.” Clint mocked as he walked up to help clean the rest of the snow off of Bucky’s face. “Don’t start a snowball fight if you can’t compete.” 

And that was all it took.

Bucky bent down and scooped more snow up, immediately throwing it at Clint who had gotten the message and decided to start running away. This snowball hit the back of his coat. Clint growled. “Oh come on! Fine, you are on old man!” Name calling? Oh, Clint was pissed.

The brunet ran to the other edge of the roof, collecting a couple snowballs here and there. Clint had managed to hit his leg and his arm while he was running. Turns out, though, his metal arm was great for forming snowballs. He used that to his advantage and created a bunch of snowballs all at once. Now he had a stock that he could keep throwing at Clint. Perfect.

The archer seemed to have the same idea, however. He stocked up on his own snowballs, piling them up on his corner of the roof. He also started building a little fort to protect his snowballs and himself. Bucky hadn’t thought that far yet. He was still making snowballs when Clint opened fire. The first one made him jump. The second one landed right on his head and he could hear Clint’s victory woop.

Bucky started throwing them back, trying his best to avoid the others’ snowmen. He managed to hit Clint a few times but the fucker kept dodging his snowballs. 

After about an hour of constant snowball firing, they both called it off. They both considered it a tie and met in the middle. Bucky had managed to hit Clint’s face a couple of times while Clint hit his arm a few times. Good enough.

Bucky pulled his lover in for a kiss when the both met up in the middle of their battle field. “Still freezing. Can we go inside now?” Clint only nodded before reaching up for another kiss.

When they got inside, the team didn’t question why they were covered in snow. They really didn’t want to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uploading this one waaaaay early because I have a major headache now and a final that is going to take up my entire day tomorrow so you get this one early, yaaaaay! 
> 
> Thank you past self for writing this one in advance.


	4. Day 4: Ice Skating

“Suit up boys, you are going on a mission.” 

Clint let out a groan and covered his face from the harsh light. After building their snowmen and having dinner with the Avengers, Bucky and Clint had decided to stay in the tower for the night. No sense going home when they had a perfect good bed here.

Natasha had to be mean, though, and open the blinds at about 8 in the morning, claiming they had a mission. 

“Nu-uh. Fury said we were off. We don’t have a mission. Close the damn blinds and let us sleep, Natalia.” Bucky mumbled as he buried his face back into his boyfriend’s neck. The redhead either didn’t hear him or decided not to listen because she just moved away from them. This was Natasha, she just decided not to listen.

“It isn’t a SHIELD mission. No, the team and I have made a mission for you so you have to get up.” Clint let out another groan. “No. Not gonna happen, Nat. It is way too early.” Natasha only moved to their closet. “Stark was kind enough to dry your stuff last night so it is all ready for you. Get your asses up and meet us in the kitchen.” She said as she pulled out their clothes. The assassin laid them on the bed before kissing them both on the cheek. “Oh, and good morning.” With that, she left.

Bucky sighed and shook his head. “Not moving.” Clint nodded in agreement. No, they were warm. It was cold outside. There was no way they were getting out of this bed just yet. “5 more minutes.” Bucky scoffed. “5 more hours sounds about right.”

Within minutes, they both had fallen asleep again. This time, it was Steve who came into their room.

“Come on soldiers, up and at ‘em. You have to start your day now if you want to get anything done!” Bucky held up one finger, directed straight towards Steve. “That is no way to talk to your Captain, soldier.” The blond said with a grin on his lips. Clint was pretending that he couldn’t hear him. Truthfully, he couldn’t hear him that well. He had only heard Natasha and Bucky because they were closer to him. Steve was too far away.

“God dammit, Steve. You aren’t going to leave until we get up, are you?” Bucky asked a couple minutes later. Turns out he was just standing there waiting for them to get up. Clint let out a sigh and sat up, immediately regretting his decision. He wasn’t warm anymore. He didn’t have Bucky’s arms around him… and most importantly, his bare chest was on show for anyone to see. Not to mention that the heat had been turned off. (Probably Natasha.) Clint reached over and put his hearing aids in.

“I’m up. Happy?” The archer growled as he reached over for his clothes. Steve nodded. “Yes, yes I am. Now you better stay awake and meet us in the kitchen in 5 minutes or else Stark is being sent in.”

That got them both up and moving. Steve had left the room so that they could change in peace.

“So what do you think they are going to make us do?” Clint asked as he slid his thermal shirt on. Bucky shrugged. “No clue, to be honest. Maybe they are sending us to do all their Christmas shopping because they are too lazy.” The archer shook his head. “Everyone would just get Jarvis to do it. Not us.”

Once they were both dressed, they headed down to the kitchen. Turns out, the team had come together and made breakfast for everyone. Now Bucky and Clint felt bad for sleeping in. Okay, it wasn’t sleeping in, it was only 8:30.

“Alright, boys, sit down.” Natasha demanded as she set the plates on the table. Clint and Bucky did as they were told. They both knew better than to mess with Natasha. 

The redhead sat down across from them both at the table, a smirk on her lips. “We have a mission for you both. You do not get to decline it either. This is mandatory.” She said sharply. Bucky and Clint glanced between each other before looking back at the others who had appeared at the table. Even Tony was there, a coffee mug in hand. Clint was jealous.

“We are sending you two out for the day.” Steve said softly. “Where?” Bucky asked, crossing his arms. “We aren’t shopping for you guys. Not gonna happen.” Clint only smiled a little as his lover defended them. Stark slid a coffee mug across the table to the archer. It was way to early to function without coffee.

“Nothing like that. I promise we are not sending you Christmas shopping. We are sending you two on a date. You said this was your vacation period so we are sending you out together.” Steve said, a big smile on his lips. Tony spoke up. “Courtesy of me, you’re welcome.” No one paid attention to him.

“So what are we doing?” Clint asked groggily. Still not enough coffee. “We are sending you two to the park. You know that ice rink in there, right Clint?” Natasha asked. The archer nodded, a low groan escaping his lips. “Ice skating? Really, Tasha?” The assassin only smirked. She knew how good Clint was at ice skating. He claimed it was the circus training. If you could walk a tightrope you could do anything.

Bucky perked up. Ice skating? That sounded… fun. The cold, not so much, but skating with Clint? Yes please. The blond didn’t look too happy about it though. “C’mon, Clint. This will be fun.” He said which surprised everyone at the table. Even Natasha looked shocked. “Really? We thought we could have to fight you both on this.” Bucky shook his head. “No, it sounds fun. Can we go, Clint?” He asked playfully.

The archer sighed and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Lemme finish my coffee. The ice will still be there in an hour.”

Even with Clint’s protests, the two left the Tower right after breakfast. Bucky was getting excited about this. This wasn’t something off their list so it was sort of like an adventure. In the 40’s, he knew there were ice rinks that people went to with their loved ones but he never got to go. Not enough time or a loved one to go with. Now he had Clint who he loved dearly.

Tony had Happy drive them to the park even though they said they would happily walk. It only took them a few minutes to get there. They said their thank you’s before getting out of the car and headed straight towards the ice rink. 

Clint had been here quite a lot. Natasha always thought it fun to show off his skills. He didn’t enjoy it but it was bearable to see Natasha smile. He wouldn’t admit that though. Bucky took Clint’s hand and walked through the park. There was still some snow on the ground. It was nice to see some kids playing on the snowy hill as they walked. Clint seemed to notice them too, as he had a big smile on his face. 

Would Clint ever want kids? They would be good parents, right? Ah, what was he even thinking? Bucky shook his head and let out a sigh. Those are thoughts for a later date. 

They made it to the rink after a couple minutes walk. Bucky’s face lit up as he saw the ice rink. Clint didn’t look as excited but was happy to see Bucky so enthusiastic. It had been awhile since he had been this happy. Clint was enjoying this.

The archer glanced over at the ice, judging how many people had been on it that day. There weren’t that many skate lines so it wasn’t too busy. He then turned his attention to the skate rental area. The poor girl behind the counter seemed so bored. Slow day.

Bucky tugged on Clint’s hand, trying to get his attention. “Huh?” Clint muttered as he looked back up at Bucky. “I said, let’s go get some skates. I want to see you in action.” The archer chuckled and shook his head. “Horrible, horrible way of putting it, Buck.”

The brunet lead them over the rental area and held up two fingers. “Two pairs, please. Uh…” The soldier looked down and then over to Clint sheepishly. What were their sizes? Clint spoke up immediately sensing Bucky’s distress. The girl nodded before giving them their skates. As soon as they had them in hand, she went right back to her phone. Really slow day apparently. 

The two made their way over to a bench and put on their skates quickly. Too cold to be delaying anything. With their laces all tied up, Clint started making his way towards the rink as he had done so many times before. Bucky wasn’t too far behind him. Clint made sure Bucky was on the ice before he got on himself. As soon as his blade hit the ice, he was off.

Bucky watched in wonder as his lover skated around the rink. He was so graceful and quick. Bucky fell in love all over again. Clint wasn’t even paying attention to Bucky anymore. He was focused on skating.

After he had done a few laps around the rink, he finally caught up to Bucky. The soldier was slowly making his way around the rink, still holding onto the railing for dear life. He had fallen a few times already; not that he was going to tell Clint that. The archer skated up beside him, a smirk on his lips and his hand outstretched. “C’mon, old man.” He teased. Bucky scowled but took his hand anyways.

“You can trust me. I got you. Let go of the railing.” Clint said soothingly. Bucky slowly but surely let go, taking both of Clint’s hands in his. Well he hadn’t fallen yet! The archer had a firm grip on Bucky and it was obvious he wasn’t letting go anytime soon. Bucky held on tightly as they started going around the rink.

They made it about halfway before Bucky started to stumble. Clint quickly adjusted and made sure that his lover didn’t fall. “I got you.” He said with a chuckle. Bucky only smiled, his cheeks reddening a bit. He would blame it on the cold later.

It was nice for them both. They had gotten out of their apartment and done something together. It was ice skating which Bucky had wanted to do for quite some time. Clint had shown a whole new side to himself as well.

All in all, Bucky enjoyed it a lot and hoped for more days like these.


	5. Day 5: Presents/Shopping

“Nat please.” Clint begged. 

“No, Clint, stop asking! Go ask Tony or Katie. They will go with you.”

The archer groaned. “No they won’t. Plus this is a gift for Bucky! No one knows him better than us two.” The red head held up her finger. “Steve knows him better than us both. Go ask him.” Clint shook his head. “No, Buck went shopping with Steve. That’s why I came to you.”

Natasha groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Fine, I will give you one hour. After that hour is up, we are coming straight home, okay? I have to finish making these cookies for Stark and Steve.” Clint nodded excitedly, immediately bouncing up from his seat and towards the coat closet. 

Natasha sighed. What had she gotten herself into?

~

Bucky peeked into Steve’s room after hearing the small ‘come in’ when he had knocked. “Hey, Steve. I need you to help me with something. Something pretty big, actually…” The blond looked up from his sketch pad, a smile on his lips. “What can I do for you, Buck? If it is something big that much mean it is important. What’s up?”

The brunet walked a little closer to his friend, keeping his hands at his sides. “I need your help shopping for Clint. This is our first Christmas together and I want it to be perfect, ya know? You had Carter for one Christmas so I figured you knew what to get loved ones for Christmas.” Steve shrugged. “Didn’t have Peggy during Christmas. Never really had Peggy in the first place, Buck. Luckily, I think I have a few ideas. Come on.”

Steve got up, putting his sketch book on his shelf. He then grabbed his jacket off the back of his desk chair and made his way to the door. Bucky followed him out of the room and into the hallway. “Your ideas being for Clint in particular or for a loved one? You gotta find the balance between the two.” Bucky joked, crossing his arms as Steve walked towards the elevator.

“Good point. We will see when we get to the mall, alright? Surely something will jump out at us.”

And jumped out things did. As soon as they made it to the mall, Bucky was dragging Steve into all the stores, claiming he had seen something perfect for Clint. One had a pair of sweatpants that Bucky bought. Apparently, Clint’s sweatpants needed to be thrown away they had been worn so much. Bucky also bought him small things, like different ornaments to put on their next tree, a pizza gift card, and he even picked up a comic book that he thought Clint would like. 

While in that store, Bucky noticed something. There were replicas of his dog tags. The dog tags that he still had, in fact. “Hey, Stevie… when you love someone, the proper thing to do was to give them your dog tags right?” He asked as he turned his attention back to Steve. The Captain was glancing over some of the art books they had for sale. “Back in the day, yeah. It was kind of like a promise thing. Why? You thinking of giving him your tags?” The brunet nodded. “I still have them somewhere.”

That sparked another idea. “Hey, Steve. Stay here for a bit, alright? I am gonna go find a bathroom.” That was a lie. He just didn’t want his friend seeing what he was buying as it was a little embarrassing.

Clint and Bucky had only been dating for about 11 months at that point. It was almost a year, but getting married would seem like a stupid thing to do at that point. Bucky knew, however, that Clint was the one. Both could talk each other down from nightmares and flashbacks, they both knew what each other wanted on their pizza, they could sleep together in the same bed without panicking, and they were each other’s best friend. They already lived together so what would be different?

Bucky found a jewelry store relatively quickly. He went in and wandered around for a bit. Nothing stuck out in his eyes. All these rings were too girly. Clint wouldn’t want one. Plus, it would probably have to go around a necklace as rings tended to throw people off balance when it came to shooting. If Clint did want to wear it, it would have to be really light weight.

After glancing around for a little bit, Bucky found a design that he liked. It just didn’t feel right was all. He left that store in search of another one. Luckily, this was a shopping mall and it had jewelry stores at every corner. He ended up searching three different stores before finding the one he wanted. 

It was thin, light weight, silver, and it didn’t have any fancy diamonds on it. It would be perfect for Clint. Bucky got the ring as soon as he saw it. No turning back now… Now he just had to think of a perfect time to do it. 

The cashier was ringing him up when Steve called him. He hit the reject button before handing the cashier his card. “I don’t need a bag or anything. This is kind of a secret thing… so I will just take a box for the ring and get out of your hair.” The lady thanked him for shopping with them today and handed him his ring. “Your boyfriend’ll love it.” She said before waving him goodbye. 

Bucky smiled and nodded, tucking the box in his pocket before heading outside the store. From there, he called Steve. “Hey, sorry. I had trouble finding the bathroom. Where are you now?” Steve told him he was still in the comic shop and was getting surrounded by ‘fans’. That isn’t what Steve called them but that is what they were. Bucky cursed under his breath before making his way back.

“On the way. Be there in a second.”

Sure enough, the comic book store was starting to get surrounded as everyone figured out who was inside. Bucky pushed through the crowd, earning him quite a few evil glares and middle fingers. He ignored them and made his way to his friend. “Steve, let’s go!” The blond looked so relieved as he grabbed Bucky’s hand and made his way through the crowd. “Thank goodness…”

It didn’t take them long before they were out of the mall entirely and making their way back to their car. “That was insane. Did someone recognize you?” Steve nodded. “I was standing right next to the Captain America section. I should have known better.” Bucky only scoffed as they arrived at their car. “Good going, Captain Genius.” He teased. 

“I got all my gifts for Clint so that was still a success.” Steve nodded as he started the car. “Yeah, and you have some more ideas for stuff you can’t really buy him. I would say you are ready for Christmas.” Bucky sat back and nodded. “Yeah… totally ready.”

~

Clint and Natasha’s trip didn’t go so well.

Clint found a couple small things to give Bucky, but it turns out that Natasha is the worst when it comes to shopping. She always complains about how many people there are and how expensive everything had gotten. Clint would only roll his eyes and keep walking. 

He found a couple comics he wanted Bucky to read, he found a small arrow necklace which he got on a complete whim, and then he found a sex store. Now, they enjoyed their sex, yes sir… but Clint thought it would be funny to buy him something from this store. He didn’t expect to go in and see Katie, looking through the vibrators with her friends.

Oh god, he was scarred for life. He ran out of that store immediately and met up with Nat right outside. “Katie is in there with America and Kamala. Someone help me. I need eye bleach.” That made Natasha crack up. She was standing there, holding her sides for a good minute before she finally calmed down.

“Your sidekick is getting more than you do! Well, maybe not more, but more exciting.” She teased. Clint groaned and dragged Natasha away. He was staying far away from that store from now on. 

They walked around for another hour but didn’t mind much else. Clint had a few things in mind for stuff that he could order online. Other than that, he just had his few things and they left.

He was totally not ready for Christmas.


	6. Day 6: Mall Santa

Bucky had recently started to get quite interested in this idea of Christmas. He had been skeptical at first with the entire team getting on them about it but he was actually enjoying himself. In fact, he had gotten up early that morning to go light the tree and make sure that all the decorations were as they were supposed to.

He even made Santa pancakes.

Yeah, he had it bad.

Clint woke up slowly to the smell of pancakes and the soft kisses on the back of his neck. “Wake up.” Bucky whispered. He had a plan for today and it was not going to fail because Clint wanted to sleep in. Not today.

The archer groaned and turned around so he was facing Bucky. “I don’ wanna…” He whined, burying his face in his lover’s neck. The brunet only chuckled and thread his fingers in the other’s hair. “You gotta get up. We have so much to do today.”

That interested Clint. “What are we doing today?” He hadn’t remembered planning anything. Bucky smiled and pressed a kiss to the blond’s forehead. “You have to get up in order to see.”

They were only going shopping for their friends but Bucky was going to treat him to lunch and maybe drag him to the ring shop, just to plant that idea in Clint’s head. See if he was right to buy that ring. 

Clint let out a groan but slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. Bucky pressed a kiss or two, or five, to his bare shoulder. “’Atta boy. Come on. Pancakes are waiting for you.”

The archer showed up at the table a few minutes after Bucky had left. As soon as he got to his chair and noticed the pancakes, he burst out laughing. “Did you really make Santa pancakes, Buck?” He asked through his laughs. Bucky look embarrassed for a moment. Did Clint think they were stupid? 

Clint quickly fixed his mistake. “No, no, these are amazing. I’m sorry. I haven’t ever had anyone make me themed pancakes. This is incredible. You are incredible.” He said as he quickly closed the distance between them and planted a kiss to the other’s lips. Bucky smiled into the kiss. Okay, so he hadn’t fucked up.

It was strange though. Clint had an overwhelming want to say ‘I love you’ to Bucky. That was very rare. He couldn’t say it just yet. No, he had to be sure that Bucky would be safe. “You are incredible, Buck. These pancakes look awesome but I bet they taste even better.” With one last kiss, he sat down and started drowning Santa in syrup.

After their wonderful breakfast, Bucky told him to go get cleaned up and meet him back in the kitchen in 30 minutes. This excited Clint enough that he was back in 15 minutes. It shouldn’t have surprised Bucky as much as it did.

“Alright, so it isn’t very exciting but I figured we would go shopping for our friends. Pick stuff up for the team. Maybe go looking for stuff we want? Give me more ideas.” He said with a chuckle. 

Clint only smirked. “That still sounds exciting to me. Anything with you is exciting.” That brought a blush to both of their cheeks. Even after a year, they are still getting flustered with flirting.

Yeah, Bucky think he made the right choice.

They hailed a taxi and made their way to the mall. It wasn’t a long drive from their place to the nearest mall. It was also very scenic as they had to go through Times Square in order to get to it. 

Bucky and Clint both watched all of the happy couples who were spending Christmas together in New York. Everyone was so happy. They were all holding hands, taking selfies near the lights, and kissing. Bucky took Clint’s hand in his real one and gently kissed it. 

He really did love this man.

Once they got to the mall, Clint took his hand in his. One thing that the archer was very hesitant about was public displays of affection. They would normally never hold hands or kiss in public. That was strictly when they were in their apartment or the Tower. Of course, Bucky didn’t mind as long as he got kisses… but this took his by surprise.

That and the fact that Clint had grabbed his metal hand. He quickly adjusted so that he could grip Clint’s hand, but not too tight. A deep blush had formed over the archer’s cheeks.

“It is so cold. Can we go inside?” Clint asked, looking up at the brunet. Oh, of course. Bucky laughed. He was blaming the cold for his tinted cheeks. Smart.

They made their way inside, hand in hand, smiles on their faces. A few people stopped and stared. An older couple glared at them as they walked out. A young woman directed her kids away. The kids, on the other hand, were very excited to see the Winter Soldier and Hawkeye in public. A younger couple smiled at them.

New York was an interesting place.

As they walked towards the ring store, they stopped in a couple places. One was a toy store. Apparently, Clint wanted to get something for Simone’s boys. Bucky wasn’t going to ask so he just enjoyed looking around the store. There were so many toys that Bucky would have loved as a kid. 

After that store, they made their way into a clothing store. Clint wanted to buy Natasha a new leather jacket as Wanda had taken hers way back when. Bucky had heard the stories and agreed that she should get a new jacket. “Just not a red one! That clashes too much with her hair.” Clint had said as they looked around the racks.

They were almost to the ring store when Clint froze mid-step. Bucky almost tripped as they were still holding hands at that point. “Hey, what’s wrong?” The archer was staring at something that was behind Bucky. The soldier turned around.

A mall Santa?

Clint frowned, glaring at the old man that was pretending to be Santa. “Hey, come on. This man doesn’t need to be killed by your glare daggers.” Bucky gently lead Clint away from the display and towards a couch. 

“Tell me. What’s up?” The archer seemed to snap out of it and focus on Bucky’s face.

“I… it was back when I was in the Circus of Crime.” Bucky kneeled in front of him, keeping their fingers laced together. “And it has to do with a mall Santa? I need to hear this story.” That managed to make the archer smile.

Clint glanced up at the man for a brief moment before turning back to Bucky. “I had to rob someone. Ringleader needed something from this man. Me and my brother snuck into his place while he was out. Turns out he was a mall Santa but he… he was also a known predator. He had bottles and bottles of alcohol as well as pictures of some of the kids that he sat with.”

The archer groaned and tilted his head down slightly. “You should have seen it. It was horrible and just… ruined my view on mall Santa’s everywhere.” Bucky nodded. Yeah, that would do it alright.

“How about we go talk to him? Maybe that will make you feel a little better. Surely the amazing Hawkeye and the scary Winter Soldier will scare him enough if he is a predator.” Clint smiled, a chuckle escaping his lips. “Yeah… maybe.”

Bucky stood up and, with their hands still tightly gripping one another, he started walking towards the line to get to the Santa. Clint had no choice but to follow. He was laughing the whole way there.

It didn’t take them long before they were next. Of course, it felt like forever as every single kid had to tell Santa everything they wanted and then freak out as soon as it was picture time. It also didn’t help that all the kids in the line with them were being brats and screaming and yelling.

Clint seemed to have made some friends though. One little boy was wearing a Hawkeye and Black Widow shirt that said ‘I am as awesome as Strike Team Delta!’ Clint had told the boy that he was more awesome than they were and that Natasha would agree with him.

Seeing Clint with kids made Bucky happy. But that wasn’t a thought for that moment.

“Next!” One of the elves yelled as the last kid was being dragged away crying. 

The elf frowned as Bucky and Clint stepped up. “Really? Alright. Come this way.” She said, walking up to Santa.

The old man smiled as the two walked up to him. Bucky shoved his hands in his pockets and Clint tried to keep his head down. Yeah, this was going to go very well.

“James. Clint. I was wondering if you were going to stop by. I saw you two standing over there a moment ago.” Both men looked at the man in shock. He knew their names? Okay, they were superheroes, yes, but their names were never fully released to the public.

“Ah, sorry. Bucky, was it? I remember Steve used to call you that when you were little. You were such a good boy back then.” The brunet chuckled. “Had to keep him in line so of course I was good.”

“And Clint! You were always such a good little boy. Even when you grew up, you remained such a good person. The way you stood up for your mom and how you stood up to your boss.” The man chuckled. “Look at you now. A superhero. You should be proud of yourself. Now, you two might be a little too old, but you can still sit in my lap if you want.” 

The two men looked between each other before shrugging and sitting on the man’s lap. Clint wasn’t getting any weird feelings about this guy. He was being too nice. Plus, his beard was real.

“What do you two want for Christmas? I can see what I can do.” 

Clint told him of trick arrows he had been wanting like the boomerang arrow and the pizza arrow. The man only laughed, nodded, and told him he will do his best.

Bucky, on the other hand, had something more important to ask for. He leaned in and whispered into Santa’s ear. “For Clint to say yes when I ask him to marry him.” 

A big smile spread across Santa’s lips. “I’m not sure you have to ask me to do that. I think you already have that, James.” The brunet looked over at Clint and smiled. Alright, maybe he did.

They got their picture taken and were then shooed out of the display. Both men waved to the Santa before going towards the ring store again.

“Buck. Don’t be too shocked, but I think we just met the real Santa. I swear to god, he was the real one. He wasn’t a fake! The elves were, of course, but not him. He knew our names. He knew my name! And he knew my childhood. You cannot just call him a weird Avengers stalker. That was actually him!”

Bucky laughed and threw an arm around Clint’s shoulders. “I think you are right.” He leaned over and pecked his cheek. “I think we just met the real Santa.” And got his blessing. 

“Hey Clint.” Bucky spoke up as they passed the ring shop. “You wanna go look in there?” Clint’s eyes lit up for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. “Why? I don’t think anyone needs jewelry… Well, rings for that matter.” He looked over at the store before looking back at Bucky.

The soldier just shrugged and took the archer’s hand again. “Just wondering.”

He got it right.


End file.
